It seemed too unusual for us to take a trip during the monsoon. With unsure minds, with flood alerts transmitted throughout South India, we had booked our tickets to Aurangabad. Once there, we were glad to learn that the weather was clear since the previous day and it was a perfect day to explore the elaborate caves at Ellora or Verul Veni (known locally).
Ellora was about 30 kms from Aurangabad city and we had passed through the foot of Daulatabad Fort on our way. We had reached the caves quite early to avoid the crowd of late hours. Though we had read about the place beforehand, it was quite unimaginable to comprehend the vastness of the carved beauties until we entered the entrance gate. And, we were welcomed by one of the celebrated structures among other caves, the Kailasa Temple. This blog post purely speaks about the caves that are dedicated to Hindu Gods (just to avoid a lengthy blog post).
Monsoon views...
First glimpse of the Kailasa temple at the entrance
Kirtisthamba...
Out of all the 34 caves present in the complex (Cave 1 to 12 Buddhist, Cave 13 to 29 Brahmanical and Cave 30 to 34 belonging to Jainism) dating back from 6th century A. D to 11th century A.D., the Kailasa temple stands as the epitome of all the other caves carved out during that era. According to a Marathi legend, in the 8th century, the queen of Rashtrakuta king Elu suffered from a severe disease. His wife prayed Shiva and made a vow to build a temple if her wish was granted. When the king was cured, she declared that she would not eat till a magnificent temple was built to Lord Shiva and was able to see its' 'Shikara'. When many architects refused to build the temple in such short notice, the king finally found an architect name Kokasa from Paithan who took the task of completing the temple. He assured the queen that she would see the Shikara in a weeks' time. He cleverly started carving out the temple from top so that the queen could see the top most Shikara first. Thus, he completed the Shikara in a week, helping the queen end her fast.
Shrine depicting the river Goddesses- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi
Pillars around the rectangular trench...
It is estimated that over 200,000 tons of basalt rock was chiseled out over a period of two and half decades to build this magnificent 276 feet deep temple. Scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata are intricately carved on the north and south plinths of the temple. In the courtyard there are free standing 'dhwajasthambhas' and elephants. A pillared chamber in the north-western direction houses a shrine dedicated to river Goddesses- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi. The rectangular trench round the temple with numerous pillars on all sides and life- size carvings of various Hindu deities kept us busy for more than an hour.
View from the first- story of the temple...
We then moved towards other caves in descending order while enjoying the fresh growth of green plants all around because of the rains. The simple facade of cave no. 15 did not appeal us. When were just deciding to head back, we were stopped by a local guide who lead us to the double- storyed part of the temple that lay hidden behind the temple. A small flight of steps lead us to a spacious hall with square pillars and life-size carvings from Dasavatar on the wall. The hall was very dimly lighted and we had wished that the ASI had spent some effort in lighting up the area just like in Ajanta (a difference that we noticed in maintenance the next day).
The next important cave we visited was cave no. 12. That being a Buddhist monastery, I will write a separate post on it. To reach the other Hindu temples, we got on to the bus service available within the complex. We were quite famished by that time as we had not carried any eatables and except a MTDC canteen at the entrance there is nothing inside that we could find to replenish ourselves. The bus stopped near the Jain caves so we visited the Jain caves before heading to cave no 29. We had to walk quite a bit to reach the cave. But we were welcomed by a refreshing view just outside the cave.
By the side of the cave 'Sita-ki-nahani', is a pool created by the Elaganga river. Due to the monsoons, the pool was being filled by a waterfall just above the cliffs. Spending some time enjoying the view, we entered the cave.
View outside cave no. 29
Pillars inside the cave...
Inner sanctum with 'dwarapalakas'
Known as Dumer Lena, the whole cave is supported by 26 cushion-like pillars. It is a huge cave again with life-size sculptures on the walls. Unique scenes of Shiva and Parvathi's wedding and both of them playing a dice game can be witnessed here. The inner sanctum has entrances from all four directions. Massive 'dwarapalakas' guard the entrances with female attendants. The cave also has sculptures depicting Ravana shaking the Kailasa mountain and Shiva killing the demon 'Andhaka'.
Ravana shaking the Kailasa mountain...
Shiva killing Andhaka...
River Goddess Ganga...
With ever-growing hunger pangs in our tummies, we had decided to head back without completely visiting all the Hindu caves. The most important cave that we missed was cave no. 21 and view of Kailasa temple from top of the cliff for which we did not have the energy.
Ellora was about 30 kms from Aurangabad city and we had passed through the foot of Daulatabad Fort on our way. We had reached the caves quite early to avoid the crowd of late hours. Though we had read about the place beforehand, it was quite unimaginable to comprehend the vastness of the carved beauties until we entered the entrance gate. And, we were welcomed by one of the celebrated structures among other caves, the Kailasa Temple. This blog post purely speaks about the caves that are dedicated to Hindu Gods (just to avoid a lengthy blog post).
Monsoon views...
First glimpse of the Kailasa temple at the entrance
Kirtisthamba...
Out of all the 34 caves present in the complex (Cave 1 to 12 Buddhist, Cave 13 to 29 Brahmanical and Cave 30 to 34 belonging to Jainism) dating back from 6th century A. D to 11th century A.D., the Kailasa temple stands as the epitome of all the other caves carved out during that era. According to a Marathi legend, in the 8th century, the queen of Rashtrakuta king Elu suffered from a severe disease. His wife prayed Shiva and made a vow to build a temple if her wish was granted. When the king was cured, she declared that she would not eat till a magnificent temple was built to Lord Shiva and was able to see its' 'Shikara'. When many architects refused to build the temple in such short notice, the king finally found an architect name Kokasa from Paithan who took the task of completing the temple. He assured the queen that she would see the Shikara in a weeks' time. He cleverly started carving out the temple from top so that the queen could see the top most Shikara first. Thus, he completed the Shikara in a week, helping the queen end her fast.
Shrine depicting the river Goddesses- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi
Pillars around the rectangular trench...
It is estimated that over 200,000 tons of basalt rock was chiseled out over a period of two and half decades to build this magnificent 276 feet deep temple. Scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata are intricately carved on the north and south plinths of the temple. In the courtyard there are free standing 'dhwajasthambhas' and elephants. A pillared chamber in the north-western direction houses a shrine dedicated to river Goddesses- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi. The rectangular trench round the temple with numerous pillars on all sides and life- size carvings of various Hindu deities kept us busy for more than an hour.
View from the first- story of the temple...
We then moved towards other caves in descending order while enjoying the fresh growth of green plants all around because of the rains. The simple facade of cave no. 15 did not appeal us. When were just deciding to head back, we were stopped by a local guide who lead us to the double- storyed part of the temple that lay hidden behind the temple. A small flight of steps lead us to a spacious hall with square pillars and life-size carvings from Dasavatar on the wall. The hall was very dimly lighted and we had wished that the ASI had spent some effort in lighting up the area just like in Ajanta (a difference that we noticed in maintenance the next day).
The next important cave we visited was cave no. 12. That being a Buddhist monastery, I will write a separate post on it. To reach the other Hindu temples, we got on to the bus service available within the complex. We were quite famished by that time as we had not carried any eatables and except a MTDC canteen at the entrance there is nothing inside that we could find to replenish ourselves. The bus stopped near the Jain caves so we visited the Jain caves before heading to cave no 29. We had to walk quite a bit to reach the cave. But we were welcomed by a refreshing view just outside the cave.
By the side of the cave 'Sita-ki-nahani', is a pool created by the Elaganga river. Due to the monsoons, the pool was being filled by a waterfall just above the cliffs. Spending some time enjoying the view, we entered the cave.
View outside cave no. 29
Pillars inside the cave...
Inner sanctum with 'dwarapalakas'
Known as Dumer Lena, the whole cave is supported by 26 cushion-like pillars. It is a huge cave again with life-size sculptures on the walls. Unique scenes of Shiva and Parvathi's wedding and both of them playing a dice game can be witnessed here. The inner sanctum has entrances from all four directions. Massive 'dwarapalakas' guard the entrances with female attendants. The cave also has sculptures depicting Ravana shaking the Kailasa mountain and Shiva killing the demon 'Andhaka'.
Ravana shaking the Kailasa mountain...
Shiva killing Andhaka...
River Goddess Ganga...
With ever-growing hunger pangs in our tummies, we had decided to head back without completely visiting all the Hindu caves. The most important cave that we missed was cave no. 21 and view of Kailasa temple from top of the cliff for which we did not have the energy.
